


Lightning Before the Jar

by randi2204



Series: Steampunk!Seven [3]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 17:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vin can sense there's a storm comin'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightning Before the Jar

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: They belong to MGM, Mirisch and Trilogy, not me.

The air was so charged it made the hair stand up on his arms, and that made it damn near impossible for Vin to sleep.  There was a storm comin’ – he’d smelt it on the breeze, even though the sky was clear all afternoon.  Toward evening, the thunderheads had started looming dark in the western sky, and now the air was thick and still.

 

With a sigh, Vin rose from bed and pulled on his clothes.  _Prob’ly ain’t anyone else up at this hour,_ he thought.  When he listened, the town was as silent as could be.  Hell, the saloons had even closed by now.

 

 _Well, reckon I can at least take a walk to the jail, pretend like I’m doin’ something useful._   He slipped down the boarding house stairs, boots in hand, and pulled them on when he was outside.  _No sense wakin’ anyone else up if they’re sleepin’._

 

The charge in the air was even worse outside, and Vin wasn’t a bit surprised when he felt the low rumble of thunder.  It was distant still, but moving closer.  When he looked up, the clouds were almost as dark as the sky they blocked out, and lightning danced between them.

 

He stayed under the overhang for the boardwalk, waiting for the rain to come.  The next arc of lightning between the clouds was right overhead, and bright enough to light up the street for a moment.  The roll of thunder that followed was damn near deafening, it was so loud.

 

 _Gonna be a hell of a storm,_ Vin thought, heart beating just a little faster, and grinned at nothing in particular.

 

Lightning sizzled across the sky again, leaving a violet streak in his vision.

 

Then the church exploded.

 

Instinctively, Vin ducked, hands coming up to shield his head.  When he raised his head again, he could _see_ the church steeple, outlined in flames.

 

 _Josiah!_ Vin ran, even before he really remembered that Josiah slept in that little room off the side of the church, before he remembered the coal and furnace and all of Josiah’s experiments underneath the church floor.

 

The heavens opened up before he made it to the church steps, rain pelting down and dousing the fire before it could take hold.  Vin kept running.  _He could be hurt,_ he thought, and forced himself faster.

 

He was soaked to the bone when he slammed the door open.   “Josiah!”

 

Josiah was kneeling on the floor, heedless of the rain that was falling through the hole in the roof.  He startled when Vin rushed in, then pushed his goggles up on top of his head.  “Vin!  I did it!”

 

Vin stopped short, staring.  There was a big glass bottle on the floor, and... something was _glowing_ inside.

 

That was when he realized that there was a bit of slag on the floor, hissing as the rain hit it.  It was probably from the tall iron rod that listed off to one side, leaning against the few remaining beams of the ruined steeple.  He took a breath and let it out slow.

 

Josiah wasn’t hurt.  He’d been _experimenting._

 

“Look, Vin,” Josiah said, his voice low, almost awed.  He climbed ponderously to his feet, cradling the glass bottle in his hands.  He wore his heavy leather gauntlets, Vin noticed.  “I finally managed to catch the lightning.”

 

Vin glanced from the jar to Josiah’s face, eerily lit by the blue glow from inside the jar, then shook his head.  _Gonna have words with JD tomorrow for not warnin’ us about this,_ he thought grimly.

 

Then he had to look away from Josiah and the thing he held, trying not to shudder and failing.  Capturing lightning… that was beyond what man should do, the realm of spirits and the unknown.  _This,_ he thought, icy cold rain trailing down his spine, _is gonna cause nothin’ but trouble._

 

***

August 16, 2012

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the prompt [the day that lightning struck the church](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/149702.html?thread=6821574#cmt6821574) on [fic_promptly](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org).


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